Quite often a child is separated from one or both parents or from other loved ones for an extended period of time. Whether it is due to occupational, vacation, war, adoption and the like conditions, the child is longing to hear parent's voice and to see parent's face particularly during a bedtime routine. As is generally well known, the child and, particularly a small child, is comforted and soothed by the parent's reading or singing and is able to fall asleep quicker and easier.
Yet, generally available daytime communication channels between the child and the parent either by way of the telephone by way of internet are not practical for many reasons when the child is trying to fall asleep.
Furthermore, it has been found that the child desires to keep a picture of the parent(s) or other loved one(s) in close proximity at all times.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,741 issued to DeMars discloses a pillow capable of emitting a signal upon the pressure applied by the user's head. A receiver located in a close proximity but remotely from the pillow receives the emitted signal and activates a remotely positioned sound playback device which reproduces a recorded sound. However, this prior art requires the user to transport the receiver and the sound playback device when the user moves to a different environment and is unpractical for use by children and, particularly small children.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,621 issued to Schettino teaches a pillow alarm device which includes a pillow having a chamber formed on the front surface thereof and which is provided with a cover flap. The chamber contains an alarm and a sound recording and playback device which is accessible by opening the cover flap. The user is capable of recording a message which is to be played after the alarm has been activated. However, the presence of the flap on the front surface of the pillow is not desirable for use with small children as they may be able to open it and access the sound recording and playback device positioned within the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,642 issued to Clute discloses an infant support pillow with a vibration inducer such as an audio emitter structured to for emitting a generated sound preferably similar to those sounds experienced by the infant when in the womb and thereby promoting sleep. The audio emitter is positioned within an interior chamber which is formed within the pillow and is accessible through a slit formed in the side wall of the pillow. While the interior chamber is hidden from direct view of the child and is therefore advantageous for use with small children, Clute is moot about capabilities to record an audio message.
Furthermore, the available prior art pillows do not allow the child to keep a picture of the parent(s) or other loved one(s) in close proximity to the child.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved pillow having an audio recording and emitting device disposed therein and a pocket for securely receiving a picture.